Healthy Living Pharmacy Pathfinder Sites reach 20

Twenty areas in England, representing 30 Primary Care Trusts, have been selected to become Healthy Living Pharmacy pathfinders and are expected to inform the future direction for community pharmacy

Twenty areas in England, representing 30 Primary Care Trusts, have been selected to become Healthy Living Pharmacy pathfinders, following a competitive process that showcased community pharmacy's enthusiasm for adopting a greater role in improving health and wellbeing in the community.

Healthy Living Pharmacy Pathfinder Sites are expected to inform the future direction for community pharmacy and the aim of pharmacy organisations is to ensure that 100 community pharmacies become Healthy Living Pharmacies by end of March 2012.

“I welcome the level and the quality of applications received from PCTs and LPCs which demonstrates how the Healthy Living Pharmacy concept has grasped the imagination of both commissioners and community pharmacy alike,” said National Pharmacy Association Chief Executive, Michael Holden. “The concept has grown wings since its development in 2009 and it is very rewarding to see the benefits reach a wider audience with a range of high quality health and wellbeing services.”

The focus of Pathfinder Sites will be on delivering high-quality public health services such as smoking cessation, weight loss, contraception and sexual health and advice on alcohol consumption. The Healthy Living Pharmacy programme is ambitious, with sites across the country aiming to reach a range of diverse communities and seeking to address their unique public health challenges, helping to reduce health inequalities.

"Pharmacists and their teams play a vital role in promoting the public's health in their local communities,” said Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. “Our plans to modernise the NHS will mean better integration of pharmacy teams working alongside other health professionals, helping to improve public health and reduce health inequalities. Implementation of Healthy Living Pharmacies will also be one of the early priorities for the newly established pharmacy and public health forum to take forward.

"We look forward to seeing the results from these Pathfinder Sites, which will provide invaluable lessons for the future. We know there is real enthusiasm for pharmacy to contribute more to the broader public health agenda and we are pleased to see pharmacy organisations taking the lead in this important work."

Developed by NHS Portsmouth, the Healthy Living Pharmacy concept was implemented during 2009/10 and has led to quality and productivity improvements in community pharmacy with better access to health and wellbeing services for the public. Through Healthy Living Pharmacies in Portsmouth, over 1000 patients have now received a targeted Medicine Use Review for their asthma or COPD with 48 per cent of those seen showing an improvement in their condition in later visits. Community pharmacies in Portsmouth have again exceeded the PCT stop smoking quit target by 138 per cent with 664 people quitting in four weeks for the year 2010/11. Early evaluation results indicate that a person walking into an HLP in Portsmouth is twice as likely to set a quit date and give up compared to a person walking into a pharmacy that is not an HLP.The following PCT areas have been selected to become Healthy Living Pharmacies pathfinder sites: